Publisher: Sandy Shores Publishing
Still shocked from what Connor had planned when he invited his best friend, Jeremy, to go camping with them, Brandy decides to take a walk in the woods with them to ask the real goals. Instead, she gets to explore a little more as Connor and Jeremy switch places this time around. Brandy is ready to to be taken... More than ready…
Abraham Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 8th of November 1847, the third of seven children. His early years were plagued with such ill-health that he was unable to start school until the age of seven. He turned the long periods of recovery into an opportunity for thinking and said “I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years”. Strikingly at Trinity College, Dublin his health had returned with such vigour that he was named their University Athlete whilst also achieving a BA in Mathematics with honours. At this time his interest in theatre became a job offer to be the Dublin Evening Mail’s theatre critic, co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu. He now began to also write short stories and in 1872 ‘The Crystal Cup’ was published. An interest in art developed and he co-founded the Dublin Sketching Club. In 1878 came marriage to Florence Balcombe. She had formerly been courted by Stoker’s acquaintance, Oscar Wilde. The marriage produced one child. Stoker had some years before reviewed Henry Irving’s Hamlet and had dined with him. That friendship now resulted in a proposal from Irving to move to London and to manage his Lyceum Theatre. His numerous commercial innovations ensured both he and the theatre thrived. Irving would also often take Stoker with him when he toured abroad. Despite this busy life Stoker continued to write and these works paved the way for his most famous creation, published in 1897, ‘Dracula’. It is rightly recognised as one of the greatest horror novels of all time and although not the first with a theme of Vampires, it is undoubtedly the most well-known. Stoker also wrote poetry and many excellent short stories and continued to write novels and other works throughout his career. Politically Stoker supported Home Rule, though only by peaceful means. He was also keen on following scientific trends particularly in medicine. In 1902 his tenure at the Lyceum Theatre ended and although he continued to write his health was deteriorating, mainly due to a series of debilitating strokes. Bram Stoker died on the 20th April 1912, in Pimlico, London. He was 64.Show book
After a long hiatus, Charity Styles is itching to get back into the fray. She’s had a succession of minor assignments, none of which provided her with the action she craves. After months of recharging and rethinking her position in the Armstrong organization, she’s on the verge of walking away, returning to what could be a more normal life. But what’s a normal life look like for a former covert assassin? Then she gets two assignments, which have nothing to do with each other. The first is to ferry a group of people out to a large mega-yacht. When it turns out that one of those people is the girl she thinks of as a niece and the mega-yacht is captained by an old friend, she sets her sails and is quickly underway. What the second assignment is, will not only test Charity’s abilities as an undercover asset to the giant Armstrong Research conglomerate, but will also assess her ability to keep a lid on her emotions when faced with the type of people she most loathes. From the Cayman Islands to the Eastern Caribbean, the coast of Brazil, and finally, the U.S. Virgin Islands, her mental state is constantly being tested. Will she find the one person who is at the head of a vast sex trafficking operation? Or will she become just another victim to the traffickers? Will she even be able to restrain her inner demons when she encounters the worst of the worst of human society?Show book
It is said that a surgeon must have ‘the eyes of a hawk, the heart of a lion, and the hands of a lady,’ but have you ever wondered how a surgeon learns to operate, how he ‘cuts his teeth’ progressing from naive newly-qualified doctor to competent surgeon? In this collection of medical tales, the training of one slightly naive young trainee is viewed through the experiences of the patients he treats as he embarks on this most challenging of careers. We share his joy when things go well, his anguish when they don’t and learn that, at the end of the day, compassion and a sense of humour make wonderful medicine.Show book
Philip K. Dick is well known for his innovative approach to life and the problems and challenges of the future. These five stories were picked to show the breath and scope of his mind. They are: 1 - The Skull 2 - Beyond the Door 3 - The Eyes Have It 4 - The Hanging Stranger 5 - Beyond Lies the WubShow book
One night of fantasy. One terrifying twist. All I wanted was one fantasy fulfilled, played out perfectly: home invasion sexy times. Mask. Gloves. The whole nine. When my dick boyfriend finally agreed, I was willing to put in the work to keep him around a little longer. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? And when I finally got the best night of my life—with the wild, hot, drool-worthy scenario I’d dreamed of—it should’ve been a no-brainer to keep Sean around for at least another romp or two. There’s just one little problem...Show book
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24th 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to an upper-middle-class family. His early years in Buffalo, New York showed him to be a boy of high intelligence and drive with a thirst for literature. In 1908, his father was fired from Procter & Gamble, and the family returned to Minnesota. Here Fitzgerald attended St. Paul Academy, in St. Paul, until 1911. At 13 he was published in the school newspaper, it was, of all things, a detective story. In 1911, aged 15, he was sent to the prestigious Newman School, in Hackensack, New Jersey. And, after graduating in 1913, he decided to continue at Princeton University. Here he firmly dedicated himself to writing. Unfortunately his writing pursuits came at the expense of his coursework. In 1917 he dropped out to join the U.S. Army. However this service to his country came with the very real fear that he might perish in the trenches of Western Europe with his literary dreams not yet begun. So he spent the weeks before reporting for duty at work on a novel entitled The Romantic Egotist. Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan, in Alabama. It was there that Fitzgerald met the love of his life; Zelda Sayre, the "golden girl," of Montgomery youth society. The war ended before Fitzgerald could be deployed, and he moved to New York City hoping to start a career in advertising that would be lucrative enough to convince Zelda to marry him. Unable to convince her that his means were enough to support her she broke off the engagement. Fitzgerald returned to his parents in St. Paul, to revise The Romantic Egoist, now recast as This Side of Paradise. His revised novel was accepted by Scribner's and published in 1920 becoming an instant success. It launched Fitzgerald's career as a writer and provided a steady income suitable for Zelda's ambitions. The engagement resumed and they married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald, their only child, was born on October 26, 1921. Inspired by the parties he had attended visiting Long Island's north shore Fitzgerald began planning the greatest of his novels, The Great Gatsby, in 1923, wanting to produce "something new—something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." Published in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews and sold poorly; only 20,000 in its first year. Today, it is considered a literary classic and one of a small circle vying for the title "Great American Novel". Fitzgerald continued to supplement his income by writing short stories for magazines and to sell his stories and novels to Hollywood. He called this "whoring". In February 1932, Zelda was hospitalized with schizophrenia. Fitzgerald rented a house nearby and worked on his latest book, Tender Is the Night, and finally published it in 1934. Fitzgerald's heavy and excessive drinking had now developed into alcoholism and with recurring financial difficulties, the emotional toll of Zelda's mental illness, this meant several difficult years. In 1937, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood. His income improved and he began to work in the film industry. He found movies beneath his talents, but was once again in perilous financial straits, and so spent the second half of the 1930s in Hollywood, working on a triangle of short stories, scripts for MGM, and his final novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon. In 1939, MGM ended the contract, and Fitzgerald became a writer for hire. Still an alcoholic, he now became estranged from Zelda and developed a relationship with Sheilah Graham, the Hollywood gossip columnist. They quickly became lovers. In this last period of his life his alcoholism had left him physically wrecked. After suffering a heart attack, in Schwab's Drug Store, he was ordered to avoiShow book
